


Pink Tint My World

by Tangerine_Catnip



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dubious Consent, F/M, Forced Pregnancy, Interspecies Relationship(s), Master/Slave, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Medical Experimentation, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Oral Sex, Power Imbalance, Pregnancy Kink, Steven Universe is Pink Diamond, Steven Universe is a Diamond, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-07 09:54:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21456112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tangerine_Catnip/pseuds/Tangerine_Catnip
Summary: Three Diamonds insist that Gems can’t be more than what they were created for. The fourth knows that’s not true. Steven wants to prove them wrong, for himself and the one who matters most to him.  The one he refuses to leave behind.
Relationships: Spinel/Steven Universe
Comments: 94
Kudos: 535





	1. The Sword of Damocles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to dedicate this one to kloaa and Elliot. This had been sitting on my back burner for far too long and it's all thanks to you guys it didn't fall down the cracks. I hope this counts as payback for all the thirst you inspired.

“Say ‘ahhhhhh.’”

Spinel’s first instinct was to obey her Diamond, but her curiosity was just that little bit stronger.

“What is it?”

Steven was holding a tiny glittering gemstone between his thumb and pointer finger. It looked a lot like Spinel’s gem but shrunk down to a size that was even smaller than a pebble. Steven’s eyebrows creased, the slight smile on his lips shifting into a frown.

Spinel regretted asking the question. Usually, when Spinel asked things, it would make Steven laugh, or prompt him to explain, or sometimes sympathize with her about the lack of a satisfying answer.

But there was also the risk that her questions would only annoy him. If they were too simple or because he didn't want her to know the answer.

“It’s… an experiment. I’m going to call them ‘augmentation crystals’,” Steven explained. 

Spinel tilted her head to the side. “Augma-what-now?”

Steven sighed and sat back on his folded legs. He had brought Spinel with him back to Homeworld a few days ago. While Spinel was content to follow her Diamond everywhere, Homeworld was quickly becoming her least favourite destination.

When on Homeworld, Spinel was forbidden from leaving Steven’s room without him, so she couldn’t accidentally interfere with the operations of the palace. Spinel would never complain, but to herself, she could admit she got awfully lonely and missed the freedom she had back on earth.

Steven’s frown deepened, probably from thinking too hard about a way to dumb it down for a Gem as stupid as Spinel.

“Remember that disagreement I keep having with Yellow and Blue?” He asked.

Spinel tucked both her hands into her lap. “Um. Not really. That’s a long list.”

“Good point,” Steven admitted. “I mean about how Gems shouldn’t do things they weren’t made for.”

Spinel nodded vehemently, that was what she'd been thinking, but she hadn't been sure.

“Right. Gotcha.”

"I was taking a tour of the human reserve a few months ago, and I learned about these neat things they’d invented. They called them flash drives.”

“Ooo! Do they run really fast?”

Steven pursed his lips. “In a matter of speaking, yes. It’s a way of storing and transferring information. Humans have used discs and even paper cards, but, seeing a version that was hidden inside a little box got me thinking. What If I could create something like that for Gems? So, I did.”

Steven held up the tiny gem. Even with an untrained eye, Spinel could see the quality in it. Smooth cut, perfect clarity.

“Yellow and Blue say that a gem can't be more then they were created to be, but they’ve never thought about adding more. It works like fusion, except instead of adding another Gem, it’s a packet of information. With these, Gems can acquire new skills and abilities after they’re created. Just like I can.”

“Whoa!” Spinel exclaimed. She didn’t think she got the full picture, but the idea sounded incredibly exciting. Who knew what kinds of cool things gems could do if they were more like Steven? Steven was so amazing. Everyone’s lives would be so much better just from being a little more like him.

Spinel looked at the gem Steven was holding again. For a moment, she'd worried that she was being replaced by a smaller and cuter model. Thankfully, she'd been mistaken.

“But then… that one is for me?” She asked.

“Uh-hun. I made it especially for you. It’ll let you do things no other Gem can.”

“Oooh! Like what?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Aww…”

Spinel pouted. She tried not to bring out the big guns too often, so they didn't lose their impact, but this time seemed to call for it.

She pressed her hands together and widened her eyes as far as they would go.

“Nawa, Stewvwen, Can I pwease have a wittwe hint? Just a wittwe one?"

Steven exhaled deeply, sat back, and stared up at the sky like he was imploring the stars to give him strength.

“Alright. But only because you asked so nicely."

Spinel nodded enthusiastically. She could have cheered for happiness, but that would have interrupted Steven. She knew to never interrupt Steven when he was talking, even if it still happened occasionally.

“Remember how small I was when we first met?” Steven asked. 

“Boy do I! You were so cute. Not that you aren’t cute now! You’re even cuter. Just, in a different way than tiny Steven.”

Steven raised his eyebrows at her, thankfully unphased by her momentary slip of the tongue.

“Y-yes, that’s correct. And what’s it called when small things get bigger?”

“I know! I know!” Spinel enthused. “It’s ‘growing’!”

Steven smiled and patted her on the head with his free hand.

“Good gem. That’s right. I grew up. I changed quite a bit. I don’t look the same, I don’t act the same, I don’t like the same things I used to…”

The smile on Spinel’s lips quivered at that last point. She’d been trying so hard to keep up with Steven, but it seemed like every day something that used to make him laugh would land flat, or a game he used to play suddenly didn’t interest him anymore. She’d managed to find new things, but she never quite understood what worked and what didn’t. She was starting to feel like she was losing more ground than she was gaining.

Spinel used to think that if she’d only seen it coming, she could have found a way to stop Pink from drifting away from her. Still, here she was watching it happen all over again, just as powerless as before.

“And thanks to this. You’ll get to grow up too.”

Spinel perked out of the slump she had slid into. Her gaze darted back to the crystal Steven was holding. 

“Re-really!? I’ll get to grow up just like you?”

Steven smirked and nodded. “Not _just _like, but very close." He slipped his fingers under her chin and tilted her head up. Whenever Spinel found herself the sole focus of Steven’s intense gaze, her anxiety and fear seemed to melt away. Her Diamond wouldn’t let anything bad happen. He only wanted what was best for her. If she played her part and showed him unwavering loyalty, he would take care of everything else. 

“It might hurt a bit at first, but when it’s over, you’ll have a new place where you belong.”

The first part of Steven’s sentence only concerned Spinel for the seconds it took him to finish it. 

“A… a new… a new...”

That was it. Steven was sending her away. He didn’t need her anymore. He was going to change her and put her somewhere else. 

“N-No! I want to stay with you! Steven! My Diamond!” Spinel jerked back and hit the floor. She bowed all the way down and clasped her hands over her head, arms bent into the Diamond salute. 

“Give me another chance! I can do better! I can be better! I can make you laugh like I used to! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Please... please!” 

Fat tears streamed from Spinel’s eyes, rolling off her cheeks and forming small puddles on the floor. A sturdy pair of hands grabbed her around the middle and lifted her up.

Spinel wound herself around Steven, arms curling around his arms, legs locking around his hips then down his thighs and calves. She plastered every part of her against him. If she could make herself inconspicuous enough maybe he would forget she was there and let her stay holding him forever.

Steven rubbed her shoulders and murmured comforting sounds to her.

“Shhhhhh, Shhhh… Spinel, it’s okay. I only meant figuratively. You’ll still be right by my side. Only not as a playmate anymore.”

Spinel partially untangled herself, just enough that she wasn’t clinging to him for dear life anymore. 

“Wha-What will I be then?”

Spinel didn’t have the right to question Steven like this, but she asked anyway. If he were any other Diamond, he’d never forgive an insult to his impeccable judgement. Diamonds didn’t make mistakes after all.

But he wasn't Blue or Yellow or White or even Pink. Steven was Steven.

“Don’t worry,” he reassured her. “We’re only going to be dropping the ‘Play’ part…”

“So… so I’ll be… I’ll be…”

Steven set Spinel down on her feet. He threaded his fingers into her rightmost bun and tilted her head back. Spinel closed her eyes as Steven kissed her. She parted her lips when his tongue pressed against them, allowing Steven access to the inside of her mouth.

Spinel loved kissing, even though it had gotten a little complicated recently. For a while, Steven had enjoyed holding her in his lap. They'd wrestled tongues, and he'd nibbled her bottom lip and explored her mouth for hours. But then he started getting frustrated if they kissed for too long. Crushing his lips down over hers impatiently and rubbing the part of his body that got hard against her. Later she’d been allowed to touch it and even do a kiss where she had it in her mouth.

It was odd and often left her sticky and needing a bath, but Spinel still wouldn’t have minded if that had been enough. Eventually, Steven started getting frustrated again. Spinel had tried to tell him she would do whatever he wanted, but he’d only brushed her off. That was when Spinel had finally realized what he needed was not something a Gem could offer him.

Recently, he’d limited kissing to only a minute or two, so he didn’t get frustrated. Spinel enjoyed it as much as she could, and if Steven forgot his rule and she got a bit longer, that was hardly her fault.

Steven lifted his head, licking his lips. Spinel swallowed, feeling the warm tingle slide down her throat from his magical Diamond saliva.

“You’ll be my mate,” Steven replied long after Spinel had forgotten the question.

Spinel blinked, her hands flying up to cover her mouth.

“Steven! you... you're choosing me?”

Spinel didn’t have a lot of words that applied to this, so she fell back on the term the humans in the zoo used. Before he had been old enough to resume work on the earth colony, Steven had gone there to study the behaviour of humans.

They’d watched from the monitoring room as the zoo humans went through a ritual called ‘the choosing’, where the humans stood in a circle and got sorted into pairs. When it was completed, the couple found a quiet spot in the zoo and laid down together. Spinel couldn’t remember all the details since she’d been watching Steven more than the humans. He’d been softer and younger at the time. He’d covered his eyes with his hands, only daring to watch between a gap in his fingers.

A year later they’d revisited, and a whole new batch of humans had appeared. Tiny little ones who couldn’t do much but babble and grab on to things. Spinel had thought they looked super silly until she’d seen Steven staring wistfully over at a monitor displaying one of the human pairs peacefully sleeping. The largest human wrapped around a smaller one, with the tiniest one in their arms.

Steven laughed and moved his hand to her waist, fingers sliding into the tight curve of her hourglass. 

“Of course, I am. Spinel, don’t you know you’re the only thing I love?

“A-aha!”

Spinel wondered if she was dreaming. She grabbed her upper arm and pinched, but aside from the flicker of pain, nothing happened.

“But! But! I can't... don't you need a human?" Spinel never let herself dwell on it for too long, but she’d been dreading the day when she would have to share Steven. She understood he needed things she couldn’t provide, that his human body wasn’t like her form, that it required the company of another. She hated it, but she understood.

“Not anymore,” Steven held up the tiny gem that had started this. “You’re the inspiration for this. I spent a lot of nights sitting up, wishing there was some way I could change your purpose. Put you together again so you’d be made for me and not **her**.”

Steven’s expression darkened at the mention of his mother. Spinel felt her gem spark, the core of her heating up. Stupid, stupid Spinel. Steven had worked hard, making this a surprise for her. Instead of accepting it as an appreciative Gem would, she’d been wasting time asking questions. Clever, clever Steven had solved all her problems and packed it into an adorable replica of her gem.

She was a single quick swallow away from becoming his. His in the same way Spinel had once been **hers**. Instead of being replaced, she had the chance to be made again.

“Steven…” Spinel tucked her hands against her gem and bowed her head as she took a small step closer to him. “I’m sorry for asking silly questions. You always know what’s best for me.”

“It’s alright. I like your curiosity. It’s one of my favourite things about you,” Steven purred. “But you’re right, I do know what’s best.” 

He tugged her close, and Spinel pressed herself up against him. Steven forgave her. Her Diamond saw her flaws, and he loved her not just in-spite-of but also because of them.

It was right there and then that Spinel promised herself she would do anything to help Steven’s dream come true. Change wasn’t something she was very good at, but Spinel would give it her all. For him.

Steven pressed the tiny gem to her lips.

“Say ah, then close your eyes. You’ll pass out for a moment, that’s part of it. When you wake up, you’ll be ready to take on all your new responsibilities.”

Spinel opened her mouth and made a soft ‘ah’ sound. Steven placed the gem on the base of her tongue and Spinel swallowed it.

Spinel nuzzled into Steven’s shoulder.

“Anything. Anything for Steven.”

Steven gathered her up into a protective embrace, arms crossed behind her shoulders and hips. 

“On earth, they'll call you my Empress Consort. Isn’t that a fun title?”

Spinel nodded her head slightly. Nothing would ever sound as good to her as 'my Spinel', but that sounded at least a quarter as fun. 

“Empress, queen, mistress, concubine… hmmm. All that matters is the next time I take you to bed, it’ll be as my partner, not my childhood teddy bear,” Steven whispered to her as he rubbed her back. Spinel didn’t know if she quite understood the difference, but it made Steven happy. 

“That sounds nice.”

“It will be more than nice.”

Spinel felt the tiny gem settle inside her. She hoped she hadn’t misunderstood what she was supposed to be doing with it.

“When will…”

Spinel’s form jolted as a bolt of powerful energy ripped through her. She tried to be strong and brave, but the pain overwhelmed her and tore a fractured shriek from her lips. Steven tightened his grip, holding her up when the agony was too much for Spinel to keep standing. She cried messily into his shoulder, trying to muffle her screams with his pink jacket. Her form destabilized as Spinel’s light was wrenched apart.

“Hush. You’re going to be okay. Don’t fight. Trust me. Trust the change. It’s for the better,” Steven insisted.

Spinel couldn’t tell which part of her body was which anymore. Her eyes were open, but all she saw was white. Steven was still holding her. Spinel didn’t understand how when she must have entirely collapsed into her raw energy state. At least the pain had passed once there was nothing left to feel it with.

Spinel felt herself coming even further apart. She could still sense Steven there with her, though all her other senses had been lost. Trust Steven. Trust Steven. Trust Steven.

She was going to wake up again. He’d promised. Hadn’t he? Steven promised.

That was the last thought Spinel had before she was torn into her individual photons.

* * *

Spinel opened her eyes and blinked at the shiny pink floor. She was laying on her side, her head propped up on something with a rough texture but still warm and yielding.

A hand stroked the back of her neck and shoulders, slipping down her back when Spinel sat up. Her pillow revealed itself to have been Steven’s legs all along and she followed them up until she was looking into the Diamond-sharp eyes that filled her nightmares and her fantasies.

“...is it over?” She asked, rubbing her eyes to work out the rest of the blur.

“Yes. You did so well,” Steven reassured her. He gathered her up in his arms, holding her around her lower back and under her legs. “Let me get a good look at you.”

“Mirror,” Steven commanded. A section of the floor opened, and a full-length mirror rose up from the gap before locking in place. 

Steven carried Spinel over to it and set her down, giving her time to find her bearings. Spinel glanced down and gasped. Her booties were gone. Spinel wiggled her toes. It wasn’t so bad, Spinel had always wondered what it would feel like to have the grass between her toes… but then, wouldn't her stockings…?

She wasn’t wearing her stockings. Spinel finally lifted her head and looked in the mirror.

“My… my form.”

Steven crossed his arms around her middle and rested his chin on her shoulder.

“I know. You’re gorgeous.”

Spinel blinked at herself. All the unique details that made Spinel Spinel had been stripped away. Her poofy sleeves, her high waisted shorts, even her gloves.

“But… but…”

Spinel lifted a hand to the side of her head. Her buns were gone. Her cute, heart-shaped buns. In their place, she had two high ponytails that fell behind her shoulders.

“I’m so… boring.”

Steven tilted his head to the side and ran an appraising gaze up the length of her body.

“I don’t think so. In fact, I’d say the exact opposite. This is way more interesting.”

He kissed the side of her neck and let his hands wander. One slid down her hip while the other ran up her belly.

Spinel patted at her hair, trying to get it to bunch back up. Steven touched her chest, and then Spinel noticed the last wrong thing.

“Why… why is my gem upside down?”

“I needed to make more space on your chest,” Steven explained with a shrug. He traced along the edge of her gem until he reached the pointed tip. On either side of the inverted V, Spinel’s form was sporting two lumpy parts. What were they called? She’d seen them on some humans before… breasts? Yeah, breasts.

“But why?” Spinel pressed.

“Because it’s what I want,” Steven cupped them in his hands and leaned over her shoulder to watch in the mirror as he massaged his fingers over them. Spinel always liked it when her Diamond touched her, but something about this felt different. Steven was handling such a tiny part of her so carefully. He was utterly captivated by her and what he was doing to her.

Spinel swallowed and nodded. “Yes. Of course, my Steven. I’m sorry.”

Stupid Spinel had forgotten her place again. If Steven was happy, she was happy.

Besides… this was starting to feel nice. Spinel’s cheeks tinted a dark pink, a flaw in her colour she’d tried to hide from Steven until he’d told her he liked to see it.

Spinel took a deep breath, arching her shoulders back and leaning into Steven’s touch. When she let her breath out, she unconsciously added a soft ‘Mmmm’ sound. Like a whine of pain, but more delicate.

Steven jerked up, dropping what he was doing and grabbing her around the middle instead.

“That... that feels good?” Steven asked pausing to take a steadying breath.

“Ya-yeah! Isn't it suposta?”

Steven chuckled and nodded. He ran his fingers through one of her ponytails. Smoothing out her silky straight locks. Spinel might have hoped she’d have curls like Steven’s, but her new form didn’t have anything cute about it. 

Spinel didn’t mean for her disappointment to show on her face, but Steven saw it there anyway. He cupped her cheek in his hand, tilting her head to the side, so she was looking up at him.

“Hey, don’t be sad!” Steven enthused, mimicking her cheery tone. “I get that it’s a little plain for your taste, but I got you lots of pretty things to wear, and if you don’t like any of them, you’re welcome to wear mine instead."

Spinel perked up instantly. She hadn’t even thought of that. 

“I can wear clothing now, just like you?”

“You always could, but it’s easier.”

Steven took Spinel by the wrists. He spun her around like they were performing a tango, dropping her into a steep dip that left her looking at herself upside down in the mirror.

“You’re going to look gorgeous in all of it. Every gem in the empire will be envious.”

Steven pulled her back up and kissed her. Spinel lifted herself up onto the toes she had now and pressed her breasts up against Steven’s chest. He’d thought of everything just like usual… except...

Spinel dropped back and looked at her new form, checking over her shoulder when she didn’t find what she was looking for. She noticed her butt was more prominent, but that wasn't what she was trying to ascertain.

“Where the little gem?” She asked. “Wasn’t it supposed to stay attached?”

Steven’s grin widened enough to show off his canine teeth. Without saying a word, he moved behind her and grabbed Spinel’s thighs. He lifted her up, and Spinel fell against his chest. Spinel reached up over her head, crossing her arms behind Steven’s neck to steady herself.

Steven spread her legs as wide as they would go and held her up to the mirror. Spinel followed his gaze and spotted the missing gem. She shifted her weight to her left hand, trusting in Steven to hold her up. Steven saw what she was doing and caught his breath. Spinel’s fingers jerked back.

“Should I not touch it?” She asked

“Yes. I-I mean no… You can touch it,” Steven stammered. He closed his eyes for a moment, composing himself. “You can touch yourself all you like.”

“Ah… okay.”

Spinel gently poked her new parts. It looked kind of like there was a flower between her legs. Soft pink petals glistening with dew. The tiny gem Steven had made for her was partially hidden behind some of the tinier petals, sitting right side up, unlike the larger one on her chest.

Spinel let go of Steven completely, and he shifted his hold to compensate. Spinel spread the petals apart with both hands and bent forward to get a better look.

“There’s an empty part here…” Spinel observed. Noting the spot under her second gem. “And it’s… all wet...” 

Steven’s grip on her thighs tightened, but Spinel was too fixated on her explorations to realize what that might mean.

“Oh! There’s more! More keeps leaking out!”

Spinel tentatively dipped a finger in to see how deep it was. It slipped in easily. Spinel squeaked as she discovered that the inside was surprisingly touch-sensitive. She wiggled her finger around a bit whimpering as the sensations started to build up.

"It… it feels so weird… Steven?”

Spinel pulled her finger out and sat up to look at her Diamond. He was staring back at her, his dark diamond pupils dominating the thin line of pink around them. Spinel waited, but Steven didn't move or even blink. He looked… hungry. No. Ravenous. Like he hadn’t had a single thing to eat all day, but there wasn’t any food around. Just her.

“S-ste-” 

“Chair," Steven barked, cutting her off. A sizeable padded throne popped up from the floor in a matter of seconds. Steven brought Spinel over to it. She expected him to sit until he dropped her into it. He knelt in front of her and hooked her legs up over the armrests. 

"Aha!" Spinel muffled herself with a hand as Steven touched her new sensitive parts. He pushed her petals apart like she had. The red discolouration spread from Spinel's cheeks, tinting her whole body a dark magenta.

Her Diamond was inspecting her. Inspecting her ‘down there’. Spinel swallowed and tried to help, putting her hands next to Steven's, keeping the outer petals pulled back so he could continue his inspection.

“My Diamond. Steven. Is it like you wanted?”

Steven didn't reply. Instead, he put his middle and pointer finger together and shoved them into her empty spot.

“Eeeeep!”

Spinel felt more of the hot stuff drip out around Steven’s fingers. It seemed like the more that part was touched, the more stuff it made to keep everything slippery. Steven spread his fingers and Spinel caught her breath as she watched her beloved inspect her insides. 

Please... please let everything be perfect. All Spinel wanted to do was make him happy.

Steven blinked. His hand shook as he pulled his fingers out. 

“It worked,” he said. Shock shaking his tone. “It's all there… I…” he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I really did it…”

Spinel sat up a bit, she couldn’t move much without putting her legs down, and Steven hadn’t given her permission to.

“You did? I’m so happy!”

Steven reached out for her haphazardly, still too shaken up to fully take in what he was doing. He grabbed her around her tummy and hugged her tightly, resting his head against her breasts. Spinel hugged him back with her arms, then her legs.

“Spinel. Do you remember that party you threw for me to celebrate our first year together?” Steven asked.

Spinel grinned and nodded, almost bumping her chin against the top of Steven’s head.

“Of course, I do! That was just after they finished fixing up our garden. I did everything I could to make it special because-”

Spinel clamped her mouth shut. She really was off her game today. She’d almost reminded Steven of the t-o-w-e-r. It had been many years since he had been sent there, but Steven still had nightmares.

Spinel understood. She knew exactly what it was like to be alone in a dark place, not knowing when it would be over and barely understanding what she had done wrong. 

“That was the first time you kissed me,” Spinel changed the topic, skipping to a happy memory. They’d played hide and seek, and she’d found him hiding under the waterfall. He'd been crying, and Spinel had realized he must have told her to play so he could hide from her. Hide his tears from her like he did with Blue and Yellow.

Steven didn’t have to hide from her though, because Spinel understood. She told him she’d done the same, slipping away to hide her tears from her diamond. They’d laughed, held one another, and cried until they were out of tears. Then Steven filled the silence by pressing his lips awkwardly against hers.

“And then I made you a promise, didn’t I?” Steven reminded her.

“Steven, you were only little.”

“I promised.”

Spinel jumped from the emphasis Steven put on those two words. She’d never thought it mattered to him. Sure, he’d meant it at the time, but that was before Steven had started growing into his role. Before he’d learned how to walk and talk like the Diamond he always was.

“Tell me what I told you.”

Spinel blushed even repeating it. It was so ridiculous. Something that could only happen in the flashing picture ‘movie’ stories that humans created. 

“You promised when you got your colony, we’d get married there.”

Steven sat up and nodded. He picked Spinel up again. Spinel didn’t think there was anything about her new form that would make it hard for her to walk, but Steven seemed determined to carry her everywhere.

He took the stairs to the raised platform his bed occupied. The pebbles had created many versions over the years. It had started out as a simple cushion with a fluffy blanket. Then, when Steven learned more about earth culture, he’d changed it to better fit his status. The current version was wide enough for twelve moderately sized gems to lie in at once. It was enclosed on all four sizes with the same reinforced latticework and curtains that Diamond Palanquins employed. 

While he was sleeping, Steven was vulnerable in a way a Diamond never should be. The fact that he slept at all was a closely guarded secret kept by trusted members of the high court and his attendants. In the past, Yellow had insisted on sending armed guards to watch over him, but even she had to admit the Palanquin solution was a neater and safer one.

Steven hadn’t been all that enthusiastic about the idea of being locked in a cage. As a consolation, he’d been allowed to keep his playmate with him, and Spinel had done her best to soothe his fears until he got used to it.

Being the only Gem allowed in his bed was an honour she’d taken pride in ever since. Steven had said something about it earlier, though. Something about how it would be different now.

Steven laid her on his bed. He kicked off his running shoes before climbing in next to her. He clapped his hands. The lattices snapped shut, and the curtains pulled closed, plunging them both into the pitch darkness.

Crystals mounted into the canopy above began to glow, bathing them both in dusky pink, purple and red light.

Steven’s gaze raked her form. “This is exactly how I imagined it’d be.”

He slipped his jacket off his shoulders and tossed it aside. Spinel pushed herself up onto her elbows while her Diamond stripped off his shirt and unbuckled the belt around his hips. 

“That’s wonderful!”

Spinel wished she comprehended what was happening to her, but the fact it was going well was more important.

Steven unzipped his pants and freed his injector. Spinel sat up, suddenly feeling a lot less lost.

“Ah! Oh-no. I’ve made you excited again. Do you want me to fix it with my mouth?”

Spinel started sitting up. Steven grabbed her shoulders and shoved her back down.

“Fuck no,” he hissed through clenched teeth. Spinel gasped and froze up, her default reaction to her Diamond’s ire. Steven took his hands back and shook his head. Regaining some of his composure.

“Hold on. I didn’t mean it like that. You didn't do anything wrong, Spinel. You’ve always been a good Gem trying to help the best you could. I appreciate it, but that’s all over now.”

Steven patted her head affectionately, apologising for his moment of roughness. 

“At first, it was exciting, discovering myself with you. Until I realized I was the only one getting anything from it and you were just playing along.” 

Steven leaned over her and kissed the side of her neck.

“It's not your fault. You're a Gem. You were made to play along. Made to play along with **her**.” 

His lips pressed against her chest right above her breasts. 

“S-Steven?”

“But she’s gone, you’re mine, and you were never just a playmate to me.”

He touched her chest, paying her breasts a moment of attention before moving on and sliding his hands down her sides to her tummy.

“You’re my best friend. You cared about me the way everyone else just pretended to.”

He kissed her belly, there wasn’t much left of her to go.

“That’s why I couldn’t stand it. That’s why I needed to find a way to make you feel like I do.”

Steven slipped his hands between her thighs and pulled them apart. Spinel let him pose her. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. She’d been breathing an awful lot since she’d gotten her new form. All the time, actually. That was strange…

Steven lay on his front between her spread legs, his full attention back on her flower parts. Spinel herd herself whimpering softly as Steven touched her there again. This part of her seemed to respond very strongly to her Diamond’s presence and attention. 

“It’s time for you to learn what you’ve been missing out on.”

Spinel wanted to tell him that she really didn’t mind. That she didn't need anything more than to see him happy, but then Steven shifted closer and kissed her lower lips. Spinel’s racing thoughts, always straining to be one step ahead so she could predict her Diamond’s needs, suddenly stopped dead. Steven edged even closer and parted his lips, running his tongue over her.

Every bit of tension in Spinel’s form left her with the ecstatic moan she gave in response. This... this was amazing, but this was bad. She was supposed to be the one serving her Diamond not...

“Hey, Spinel...”

“Y-yes my Steven?”

“Guess what you taste like?”

“I-I...”

Steven licked her again, parting her petals with his tongue, lapping up the slick stuff. He licked his lips, savouring her like a decadent indulgence.

“Strawberries and cream...” Steven purred. “This is the cream, and you’re my strawberry.”

Steven grinned, plunging his fingers to the hilt inside her. He tasted some of the cream that dripped out. He moved up to her second gem. He teased her for a moment longer, circling his tongue around it. Spinel could feel her from responding, but she didn't truly grasp that her tiny gem could be sensitive until Steven gently licked her right there. Spinel’s legs jerked and she gasped, both of her hands flying up to cover her face.

“Steven?!”

Her Diamond chuckled and started to move his fingers. He rocked them in then back out, curving them up towards her lower tummy. 

“I made you a bit more sensitive than a human would be,” Steven told her, his eyes following his fingers. To Spinel’s surprise, feeling them moving around inside of her triggered another strange tickling sensation that got stronger the more he touched her. Steven licked her tiny gem and Spinel saw stars flash over her vision.

“Ahhhh-haaaaahaaa~!”

Steven’s fingers inside her and his tongue gently teasing her little gem was building to something, something big. Spinel lowered her hands from her face. At a loss for what else to do, she wrapped them around, tying herself up with her own limbs. The tightness around her chest helped her hold still. Steven was gentle with her, but it was still so overwhelming.

“Steven… ooooooohaa… St-steven? What… What’s happening?”

Steven looked up at her from between her legs and Spinel squeaked when she saw his eyes narrow at her.

Steven sat up. He licked his lips and wiped his chin on the back of his left hand. The fingers of his right staying pushed as deep as they would go inside her.

“Skipping to Bondage already? And I was planning on taking it easy on you...”

Steven lifted her leg up and ducked under it, crawling over to sit beside her hip. Spinel tried to keep her eyes on his, but she kept glancing down at his injector. There was some elementary arithmetic she was struggling with right now. It was so hard to think through the overwhelming sensations.

Steven hooked a finger between her stretched arms and her chest. Spinel had avoided squishing her breasts, so she was wrapped both over and under them instead. Steven bowed his head forward, curly bangs partially covering his eyes, leaving nothing but his ecstatic grin. He chuckled as he started to move his fingers again.

“When I couldn’t sleep, I’d look at your form pressed against mine and add another fantasy to the list of things we’d do when I found a way to change you. The longer it took, the longer that list got, but the first thing stayed the same. Before I crack completely and indulge my sweet tooth; I want to watch you have your first orgasm.”

Steven grabbed Spinel’s arm and pulled her up by it. Spinel clasped her hands tightly behind her back and shut her eyes. Something warm and wet brushed over the nubby bit on the front of her right breast. Steven’s tongue? Then the warmth closed over it. Spinel snapped her eyes open to find her Diamond gently suckling at her breasts. 

Spinel trembled as sparks of hot energy flowed from her breasts down to the spot between her legs. She still hadn’t stopped dripping. The warmer and more excited she got, the more seemed to pour out. 

Spinel blinked rapidly, tears building up in the corners of her eyes. So much, it was all so much. Steven switched sides, giving her left breast the same treatment. Spinel could still feel the aftershocks. All the while, his fingers worked inside her. Building, building, building.

Steven dropped her and Spinel fell back down to the bed. She tightened her arms around herself, feeling if she didn’t hold tight, she might break apart.

Steven sat back. He turned his right hand just a bit and pressed his thumb down on top of her tiny gem, rubbing the pad against it.

Spinel yelped and her hips bucked up into his hand. Despite her best efforts she was going to fall apart. She could feel her ability to control her own form slipping from her grasp. 

“Go ahead. Give in to it,” Steven whispered, pressing his thumb down again as his other fingers worked inside her. “This is what you were made for. What I remade you for.” 

Spinel swallowed and nodded. She tried her best. She unwrapped her arms and let her whole form fall slack. She cried out softly with each spike of pleasure until.

“Aha-aha! Steven!”

It was like someone set off fireworks in her form. Wiz, pop, bang, bang, **bang.** It was like taking the first bite of cake over and over again. Pure pleasure spiking then ebbing only to spike once more.

Coming back was like waking up from a dream. Spinel found herself laying curled up on her side, her lower half still aching pleasantly. Steven was licking his fingers clean. The look in his eyes told Spinel everything she needed to know about what a spectacle she hade made of herself in the moments she’d lost to ecstasy.

“So? How was it?” Steven asked, the smirk tangible on his face and in his voice.

“It… it was really swell! And a little scary... but gee, yeah, super swell!” Spinel pushed herself up with wobbling arms and tried to recover what little decorum she had. She bowed her head reverently. “Thank you for giving me such wonderful gifts, my Diamond.”

Steven rolled his eyes at her. He sat back and crossed his legs and snapped his fingers. Spinel leapt to obey the unspoken command and climbed into his lap. She struggled a bit with where to sit, not wanting to damage his injector. She knew it was susceptible to touch. The first time she had held it, she hadn't needed to work very hard at all to get the goo to come out. It had seemed to get less volatile as he got older, but Spinel still wanted to be as careful as possible.

Suddenly, Steven grabbed her hips and Spinel felt the hot tip of Steven’s injector poke her in a spot she had just become very well acquainted with. 

“Oo-oh…”

“Oh what?”

“Dats’s why I have a hole…”

Steven laughed and nodded. “I was wondering when you’d get it.”

Even after doing its thing, Spinel’s flower bits just kept dripping with the slippery stuff Steven had called cream. It was her form. Her new form. It had been preparing itself for this. Knowing before she did that she needed to be prepared to take her Diamond inside her.

Part of Steven, one of his essential and vulnerable parts, filling her up. At least with her mouth, Spinel knew how to be careful, but she didn’t seem to have any control over her flower parts. 

“Wait! St-Steven… I’m scared. What if I’m no good? What if I’m not good enough?” 

With some difficulty, Steven managed to pry his eyes away from his enthusiastic attempt to tease as much of the slippery stuff onto his injector as possible. He exhaled and forced a small smile.

“Spinel. Take deep breaths and think. What did you learn today?”

Spinel focused on the rise and fall of her chest. After a few seconds, it finally dawned on her. She flinched at how obvious her mistake had been.

“D-don’t question my Diamond. He… you know what’s best for me.”

“Good girl. This is your purpose now. I gave you everything you'd need to fulfil it. You don’t doubt me, do you?”

“Wha-what? Of course not!”

Spinel took Steven’s shoulders and bowed her head in apology. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Wowser, you’d think I’d eventually get a lesson through my thick skull, right?”

Spinel forced a laugh.

“This is my purpose now… this... this is.”

Spinel trusted Steven. Spinel loved Steven. Her Diamond was her whole world. Spinel closed her eyes tight and steadily lowered herself down. Steven jerked. He hadn’t been expecting a sudden change of heart, but he wasn’t about to do anything that would prevent her from fulfilling her role.

Steven’s injector slipped inside so effortlessly that Spinel let her guard down by the time she reached the bottom. His tip ran right up against the deepest part, forcing her to end her smooth motion with a shudder.

“Se-see? Perfect fit…” Steven breathed. His eyes rolled back in his head as he dropped onto the bed.

Spinel blinked down at him. Now that Steven's injector was in, she had to admit it wasn’t scary at all. It didn’t hurt. In fact, it felt nice. It was like holding hands or kissing, but better. Spinel thought about how Gem injectors touched down on planets and thrust their drill bits into the soil. Part of her had been worried it would be like that. That she would have to grit her teeth through the discomfort until it was over.

Instead, her thoughtful, kind, perfect Steven had been gentle with her. Just like always. Spinel bounced with renewed excitement. Steven groaned and grabbed her hips, digging in his fingers as he held her still.

“Steven?” Spinel asked as she leaned over him. Steven seemed to be having some sort of trouble. His teeth clenched, brows furrowed, his intense gaze fixed on the glowing crystals above them. 

“Don’t. move,” Steven ordered. “I need… just give me a second.”

Spinel gasped and clasped her hands to the side of her head.

“Ohmigosh! Am I too tight? Am I hurting you? Is your injector okay?!”

To Spinel’s increasing dismay, she felt herself tighten up around Steven as her anxiety peaked. She squeaked and tried to pull away before she could do any more damage, but Steven’s Diamond grip on her hips kept her firmly in place.

“Nnngah… I told you to stay **still**.”

Steven grabbed a pigtail and dragged her down onto his chest. He pulled his knees up, angling his hips toward her, fitting just a little more inside. Steven’s arms folded behind her back, and he tucked her head under his chin. All the worries fell out of Spinel’s mind the moment she found herself completely surrounded by Steven.

She lay there quietly, just like he had ordered her to. Spinel felt her breath sync with his. His heartbeat matched an odd pulsing sensation she was feeling behind her gem. One that got faster when she was afraid and slowed down as she relaxed. 

“Everything is fine, cupcake,” Steven reassured her after a few moments. “I just don’t want this to end too quickly.”

Spinel nodded, assuming Steven would feel the tiny movement against his chest.

“Ooooooooh, yeah. I get it. Only so much juice in da ol’ injector, Huh?”

Even though there had been silence less than a moment before, this new silence seemed to be extra silence-y.

“Spinel…” Steven growled as his hands closed around her sides.

“What? Wa-wait! I didn’t mean dat!”

The world flipped, and the next thing Spinel knew she was spread out over the fluffy pink comforter, Steven was looming over her.

“Cross your legs behind your head and hold your ankles.” 

“B-but!”

“Now Spinel.”

Spinel obeyed. She took her ankles and effortlessly tucked them behind her neck, using them as a pillow to keep her head up. 

“Ooooo... I rewawy fucked up, didn’t I?” 

Spinel had learned that saying naughty words in her cutest voice was an excellent way to crack Steven up. She got a chuckle, but it did precisely nothing to defuse the tension.

“You’re certainly ‘fucked’. It's time you learned what that word really means.”

Steven took hold of Spinel’s wrists and moved them close to her ankles. Then, he summoned up a pair of bubbles that encircled them both. Her hands and feet stuck out the sides, but the parts inside the translucent spears were trapped. 

Satisfied that she was properly restrained, Steven let go. He planted his hands on either side of Spinel’s abdomen, fisting handfuls of the comforter. He shifted his hips, pulling out as easily as he'd gone in. 

“No more games, Spinel. That isn’t your purpose anymore. This is...”

Right before he slipped completely out, Steven hunched his shoulders forward and slammed his injector back in. Spinel jolted as his injector hit that deep place inside her. She moaned shamelessly, inadvertently straining against the bubbles holding her. 

"It's not so bad, is it?"

“Nah-no...” Spinel stammered. She lifted her head up to see and got an eyeful. Steven’s injector was dripping with her fluids and more leaked out every time he thrust it into her pink petals. Steven’s fingers had been great, but this? Spinel could feel his injector rubbing and filling every part of her insides.

“It... feels good. I feel good. I feel so good, Steven!”

Steven smiled, showing off his two pointiest teeth.

“That’s the point. It’s your reward for doing what you were made for.”

He pulled his knees closer. Putting more of his weight behind each thrust.

“Wh-when the others look at you, all they see is mindless entertainment, but you’re so much more. A gorgeous, powerful gem like you belongs by my side.”

Steven’s hands wandered as he mused. First, up her sides, then down her front, along her gem, over her breasts. It was hard for Spinel to keep track when Steven’s injector was mixing up her insides.

“Well, mostly by my side, but sometimes below me.”

Steven chuckled. Clasping her chin in his hand and tilting her head back. Spinel didn’t need the encouragement to look into Steven’s eyes, especially not when they were trained back at her. 

“You’re the first gem made to be loved. Loved dearly by her Diamond, protected, cherished… filled.”

Spinel was surprised that she responded strongest to that last one. Filled. Her diamond was going to fill her up. She felt so good even her gem was resonating with aftershocks of pleasure, glimmering so brightly her light from below Steven was brighter than the crystals above. 

“Th- thank you, Ste-ven. You... you’ve ah-always l-loved m-me be-best,” Spinel stammered. Losing control of her voice every time the injector tip kissed her deep place.

That was when Steven smiled. Not just smirked or grinned, but gave her a full and genuine smile, shining through the exertion. Then Steven kissed her, her lips pressing against hers with the perfect amount of pressure. Wanted, needed, treasured, adored.

Steven turned his head and whispered, “Oh Spinel, I’m the only one who’s ever really loved you.”

He sat up and for a split-second reality warped before Spinel. Pale peach skin became pink, short cut brown curls morphed to a fluffy pink bob, bare flat chest to a tight-fit top with puffy sleeves. The only thing that didn’t change was the eyes. The pink Diamond eyes.

Pink. Pink. Pink. Pink.

_'Never loved me. She never loved me. Can she see me through his eyes? Is there anything left of her or is Steven just Steven through and through? Does he think what she did? Can he see her memories? Was this her plan all along?’_

Spinel blinked and the nightmare vanished. Those thoughts were too big for her. She was a stupid Spinel. She’d just hurt herself trying to understand Diamonds.

All she needed to be happy was to do what she was made for. That was still true even if the path there had changed. She was so good at her new role. Just look at her. She was dripping happiness onto the duvet under her.

Steven was starting to run out of breath. Each intake of air getting deeper and deeper. He was working up a sweat, Spinel could see the droplets forming on his temples.

“I know you’re obsessed with the sound of my voice,” Steven teased, grabbing her hips again. “but I’m sick of talking, time you made all the noise.”

Spinel swallowed and nodded. That was one order she could follow without even trying. She tossed out what little filter she had and moaned, cried, and gasped with every sensation Steven wreaked in her form.

Steven was feeling it too, the longer this went on, the more unfocused and animalistic his motions became, harder and faster and falling out of pace.

Had she had any breath to do so Spinel might have giggled. It was so unfitting for a Diamond but perfectly Steven. Messy and intense, changing his flaws into shimmering facets.

Spinel had wondered if the fireworks thing would have an encore. It felt different this time, driven by the forceful spasms that wracked her lower body. 

“S-Steven! It’s ha-happening again!” Spinel squealed. “Should I? Can I?”

Steven huffed a laugh. “Unnf… g-good gem…. Looking for permission even… ummmhn... even when I didn’t ask.”

Steven folded over Spinel and banished the bubbles with a single tap of his fingers. Without missing a second, Spinel wrapped herself around Steven like the ribbon on a birthday gift. She left no loose ends but some slack around her shoulders and hips, so she didn’t hinder his movements.

Steven hid his face in her shoulder, his hot, laboured breathing tickling her neck. His hands crossed behind her lower back and his arms closed around her hips. His fingers climbed over her things until-

“Ste-Steven!”

Steven’s pointer finger ran in circles over her little gem. Like it was the activation button for the internal fireworks.

“That’s right, scream it,” Steven hissed into her ear. “let everyone know who you belong to.” 

“Steven! Ahah! My Steven! I’m yours I’m yours, I’m-ahaaaa-!“

Spinel’s back arched and her head fell back, her voice abruptly cutting off as even it failed her.

Spinel couldn’t control her form at all. She was lost in the primal instinct, driven by her half-Diamond into a place no gem was meant to go.

The Fireworks roared. Steven egging them on with his form-braking thrusts all the way through.

Then, it all drained out of Spinel, leaving behind another unusual feeling, tiredness. She collapsed onto the bed, her limbs returning to their usual length and arrangement.

In the messy haze, Spinel felt strong hands angle her hips back. Steven grunted and Spinel felt his injector jolt inside her and suddenly… a warm feeling as the injection took hold.

Spinel looked on in awe, afraid to move even a little and ruin it. Open-mouthed as Steven ever so carefully eased his injector out of her.

Steven clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction as a little bit of goo followed him out of her. Spinel caught her breath, wondering if she could do something. Steven put a hand on her chest to keep her down.

“Shhh... No. Stay still. You’ve done your part. And you did it so well.”

Steven kissed her forehead, sat up, and stretched.

“What happens now?” Spinel asked, moving just her eyes to look at him.

“We sleep,” Steven suggested with a shrug. “Fuck, I’m thirsty though.”

He clapped his hands. The latticework parted, returning the bed to it’s much less intimidating state.

“Water.”

A section of the floor pulled away and popped back up with a glass and a pitcher. Drops of condensation already gathered on the surface. Steven poured himself a glass and drunk it in a single go. He filled it up again and held the glass out towards Spinel.

“Drink.”

“I’m okay.”

“The answer to a question I never asked.”

Spinel swallowed and started to sit up.

“But what about?”

“It won’t take, not this first time. This was just for practice and because I couldn’t wait,” 

“O-oh...”

Spinel sat up and took the glass. She didn’t know if she was disappointed to hear that. She looked down at her reflection in the water. The image looking back at her was so distorted she could almost pretend nothing had changed. She held it to her lips and poured it into her mouth. She prepared to shapeshift a place for it to go, but the water triggered a reflex, and she swallowed. The cold liquid soothed a dryness she hadn’t even noticed. Spinel took another sip and finished it almost as quickly as Steven had.

Steven took the glass and filled it again, passing it back to her. “Keep going.”

He pointed down at the blanket where Spinel had been laying and the prominent wet spot she had left. Spinel flushed crimson and pressed the glass back to her lips. Steven smiled and moved next to her, petting her head tenderly as she drank her second glass. 

“We’re doing something no Gem has ever even thought to try. It’s going to take time. Trust me though, when you're ready you'll know. For now, Spinel, I’m going to need you to eat and drink regularly.”

Spinel lowered her empty glass, swallowing the last mouthful. 

“Why?”

“Because you aren’t a planet and I don’t want to run you dry. If you’re going to make gems for me, you’ll need to get your minerals and nutrients from food, like I do.”

Spinel dropped the glass she was holding. It landed silently on the duvet.

“Ma-ma-make Gems? I… I... I’m going to…?”

Steven placed a hand on top of her gem. He hushed her with a murmur and pressed his ear to her chest. After a moment he started tapping his finger against her gem, two quick pulses evenly spaced apart. 

“That’s your heartbeat,” Steven explained. “It’s pumping the blood that will carry vitamins and minerals through your form.”

He let her go and let out a loud yawn. The little bump things that meant he was cold started to appear on Steven's arms. He grabbed a corner of the massive duvet and slipped under it. He snapped his fingers and Spinel joined him under the blankets. He scooped her form against his, lining her body up with his own. 

Spinel had a billion questions burning away in her mind, but by now she had finally learned her lesson.

If she did everything Steven told her to, it would all work out for the best. 

Wouldn’t it?


	2. Creature Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes things take a lot longer then you expect. 
> 
> btw please check out [Elliot's Illustrations](https://ellinoirel.tumblr.com/post/190632755725/pink-tint-my-world-tangerinecatnip-steven#notes) of the first scene in this chapter.
> 
> and the Dress Spinel is wearing was [designed by kloaa](https://kloaa.tumblr.com/post/189239833768/ok-so-tanger-catnip-tangerinecatnip-on-ao3)

"How much longer?" 

Peridot consulted her notes. One of her detachable digits gestured back and forth as she scrolled through a wall of glyphs. 

"Could be any day now. Spinel's vitamin and mineral levels are acceptable, but I haven't detected an elevated temperature nor seen a spectrum shift indicative of the estrus cycle." 

Steven nodded and cupped his chin in his right hand, fingers resting over his lips. 

Spinel crossed her arms over her belly, wishing the firm padding underneath her would turn soft and swallow her up like quicksand. 

"I-I'm sorry…" she murmured. 

Steven glanced over at her. He dropped his hand and walked over to the examination table. 

"Shhh, Bubblegum," he patted her gently on her head. Spinel tried to smile, but she'd never been able to hide her discomfort at having her bare form examined. She felt like the main act in a three-ring circus, leaning back on the raised platform with her legs up in stirrups. At least today's checkup hadn't involved the cold metal tool that looked like the beak of an exotic bird. What had Steven called it? Oh, right. A speculum. 

It was one thing for Spinel's Diamond to press his fingers into her and explore, but putting up with a tool that revealed everything while another gem looking was about all she could take without bursting into tears. 

But it was necessary, just like the meals she ate and the awkward trips to the bathroom multiple times a day. Now that her purpose and her form were linked, she'd be scrutinized and monitored like any other undertaking of the empire. 

"If her levels are fine, then what exactly is the issue?"

Peridot shrugged dismissively. A move that would've counted as suicidal had she not been on excellent terms with the Diamond she was directing it towards. 

"It could be half a dozen things. Most likely, it's a ridiculous and unpredictable quirk of organic biology that's fouling up the process. Some minor hormone fluctuations or environmental factors. Organic life operates off a set of directives that get picked at random, leading to multiple inconsistencies and squandered resources. If you think about it, it's really no wonder why organics are inferior to gems in every measurable way…" 

Peridot finally looked up from her logs and noticed Steven's unamused stare. 

"Uh, present company excluded, my Diamond," Peridot flashed her prefect diamond salute at Steven, prompting another eye roll. 

"Cut the crap, Peri. I don't care about all the things it could be. Just tell me what I have to do to fix it." 

Peridot retracted her touchstuffs and crossed her limb enhances over her chest. 

"I have a theory, but I can only discuss it off the record. My professional credibility as a master kindergartener is on the line."

Peridot waved for Steven to follow her into her small office that adjoined the hexagonal exam room. 

Steven huffed and rolled his eyes again, purely for Spinel's benefit. He spared her a thin smile, and a murmured, "Get dressed. I'll be back soon," before following after Peridot. 

Spinel watched until the pink doors closed behind him. She could still see him through the tinted window above Peridot's desk. Which also meant he could see her.

Spinel decided she better start doing as her Diamond asked. She unhooked her legs and slid off the examination table, her arm instinctively rising to cover up her breasts. Her modesty had combined with the natural vulnerability all gems felt about their centre of existence, leaving Spinel especially self-conscious of her upper torso. 

Her breasts were so jiggly and cumbersome and made it hard for her to see her own gem. At least her flower parts had the decency to be nestled up neatly inside of her, where no one could see them unless they knew where to look. 

Spinel kept thinking of them as her flower bits, even though Steven had supplied her with a variety of names. Usually in the heat of the moment, forcing her to think quickly to connect the parts of her body with the words. Cunt and vagina related to downstairs, tits and rack was the up part. Pussy could mean a small feline, but, in most cases, it was safe to assume Steven was referring to a part of her. 

Spinel sighed and took her dress down off the hangers set up by the exam table. She stepped in through the plunging back and tugged it up her body. The dress fit tightly since there wasn't a lot to hold it up beside the clinging fabric. It wasn't her favourite outfit, but Spinel liked the sleeves. They were poufy and cute, just like her form used to be.

Steven was still busy talking to Peridot. Spinel crossed the exam room and sat at the vanity table pushed against the wall furthest from Peridot's office. She dismissed the documents left open on the screen and switched the screen into mirror mode. She picked up a mother-of-pearl hairbrush and begin running the stiff bristles through her hair. Spinel had learned how to tie it into buns. She couldn't get them to look as perfect and heart-shaped as she remembered, but she was getting better and better at it each time. 

The door to Peridot's office opened with a woosh just as Spinel was finishing her second bun. Spinel bit her lip, fighting the impulse to jump to attention. Since her form change Spinel had been trying to alter her behaviour to better fit her new role. She'd watched how the Jades and Sapphires conducted themselves, compared it to the Agates and Emeralds, then and did her best to mix the two. She was hoping that if she tried to be every high class gem mixed together, she might get somewhere close to actually being one.   
But first, she needed to stop acting like a Pearl, continually looking to her Diamond for praise or a new task. 

Spinel tilted her head back, meeting Steven's eyes in the mirror. She was desperate to know what Peridot had suggested but asking right away was something an impatient Spinel would do. An emerald would stand at attention, trusting that the next phase of the battle would be revealed to her when it was time. 

Steven ran a finger down her back, all the way to the lowest part of the curve. Spinel bit her lip to stop herself squealing in surprise. Steven collected the white choker she'd left on the vanity and slipped it back around her throat. He fastened the silver catch and ran his thumb over to smooth it into place. 

"Thank you, my Diamond." 

Spinel picked her gloves back up, holding her whole arm up as she tugged them on. They went all the way past her elbows, just like the ones Pi█̶̷̨̪̩̩̱̠̖█̶̴̱͖̥͓̻͘é̴̡̛v̷̵̝͕͉̹e̡̛̼̭̙̠̭r͉̟̹͔c̩̦̬̫̪̘̤̲̹̰█̸̧̣̻̥ar͙͓̼̳̗e̴̻̤̩̤̦d̸̨͖̣̰͉n͏̸̸̥͚̻█̡ond had once worn, but Spinel's were a pure white instead of Fuchsia. 

She'd been frightened to wear them at first. This kind of elegant embellishment marked out the elite and a gem of lower standing would be disciplined for daring to emulate. 

Spinel glanced around for her shoes. She could have sworn she left them…. Spinel gasped, almost falling right off her pink poof. Her Diamond, Steven, was kneeling by her side and holding up one of her crystal slippers. 

She swallowed, refusing to look in the mirror to see how magenta her face had turned. Her blushing had only gotten worse now that she had the blood to rush to her cheeks. Spinel turned her body stiffly. White Diamond would have shattered two whole Spires if she'd seen this. A Diamond helping another into their clothing, stooping like a Pearl. 

Fortunately, the exam room was securely hidden inside the bowls of the palace. Deep in the long-forgotten catacombs that the pebbles had made to keep her secrets before she found a whole planet to hide in. 

Spinel gripped the sides of her puff and gingerly donned the offered slipper. Steven left her foot resting in his lap. His fingers drifted up her calf, and all the blood in Spinel's cheeks found a place it would much rather be. 

Steven picked up the other slipper, and it happened all over again. Now both her slippers were resting in his lap. Steven grinned up at her, hugging, literally hugging, both her legs and against his chest. 

"Th-thank you, Steven..."

"Happy to be of service, My Spinel."

The high-pitched sequel Spinel was making shifted into an audible frequency. She swooned completely, flopping over backwards on her poof. Steven let go of her legs, having to prop himself up, so he didn't completely collapse on the floor from laughter. 

Spinel rolled off her poof, consigning herself to that very fate. 

"Steeeeeeeeevvvvennnnnnn whyyyyyyyy?" Spinel hiccupped through her whine. "I was doing so good acting all classy n'stuff…"

Peridot leaned out of her office to see what all the fuss was about and was treated to the sight of Spinel and Steven rolling around on the floor together. She lifted her wrist up and pressed a button to record. 

"Amendment to log 344: Laughter seems to function as a bonding activity with organics. Personal note: remember to leave the examination chamber after consultations. Subjects have officially become… schmoopy."

Peridot shivered and locked the door to her office behind her. 

"There's my adorable princess," Steven murmured as he helped her back to her feet. 

As he looked at her, the tenderness in his eyes started to harden, Diamond pupils asserting themselves. 

"Come. You and I need to talk." 

He took her hand, then seemed to think better of it. He turned his back to her instead. Spinel's heart lurched against the underside of her gem. 

"Want a piggyback ride?" 

"Ah! yes!"   
  
Steven started to bend his knees, but Spinel hopped up right away, plopping her chin down on top of Steven's fluffy curls. 

"Gee, this is sooo much higher up then I remember! Is this what everything looks like for you?" 

Steven shrugged and folded his hands behind his back, bringing them up to take some of her weight. Spinel felt the skirt of her dress ride up as Stevens's hands rested on her bare backside. 

So that's why gems wearing formal dresses don't try climbing their Diamond. Spinel silently thanked the stars that the way to Steven's room was through the maintenance pathways where only the pebbles would see them. 

The exam room had two exits on opposing sides, one leading deeper into the underbelly of the palace and another that lead back up to the hidden door in Steven's room. Steven carried her through the later and out onto a narrow walkway overlooking the vast pink caverns dug into the crust of the planet. 

Connecting walkways like this one allowed service gems access to any room of the palace without getting underfoot. According to some of the oldest pearls, that had been a real problem once. More than one oblivious gem had met their end under White Diamond's heels.

"You haven't given me a piggyback ride in ages…" Spinel said, tightening her arms around Steven's chest. 

"Really?" 

"Yeah… The last time was three years ago. When you were overseeing the construction of the Gamma kindergarten? You wanted to see if you could jump the canyon and let me climb up to join you."

Spinel smiled at the memory. Soaring through the air, holding fast to Steven as he controlled their descent, the shocked faces of the kindergarteners, and the dizzying drop below. 

"You have an excellent memory." 

"I do when it comes to you, my Diamond."

Steven was silent for a moment, his footsteps echoing, then he said "I wonder if our gems will have your memory. Maybe they'd make good record-keepers or historians." He tilted his head to the side and Spinel moved her chin on his shoulder. "but, if they're a lot like us, I guess they won't have the patience for it."

Steven snorted and shook his head. "What about you, Cupcake? What do you think they'll be like?"

Spinel giggled, she loved it when her Steven asked her silly questions. "I think they'll look like big fat elephants and be really good at playing the trombone!"

She couldn't see his face, but Spinel felt the sudden tightness in Steven's shoulders underneath her.   
  
"Spinel, please." 

"Wa-wait… Weren't we telling jokes?

"No."

"But... but… you were pretending just now?" Spinel protested, feeling like she had just stepped on the claw end of a rake and received the inevitable consequence. "You already know what they're going to be."

"I don't." 

"Ya what now?" 

The hidden panel leading back into Steven's room slid back as he approached. Spinel sometimes wondered why all the doors didn't work like that. Maybe it was to give the Pearls something to do. Steven shifted his hold and Spinel slid off his back and onto the floor. 

Steven turned to face her and took her hand in both of his. 

"This isn't going to be like how most gems get made. There's no blueprint, no projections. That's why this is so Special."

Steven patted the back of Spinel's gloved hand. 

"That's the thing about organic life. It surprises you. Our gems will have a bit of you and me, but more then that, they'll be something all their own." 

Steven led her across the room and out onto the balcony that overlooked the palace district. 

Spinel tried to keep her focus on him, but her thoughts were starting to pinwheel wildly. A bit of her? No, that couldn't be right. She was just supposed to be the soil for his seeds, nurturing them with the secret kindergarten hidden inside her form. 

Except… Spinel remembered something she'd heard Peridot explain to Steven. That 'excessive curls in Quartz' was proof of an iron-rich kindergarten. 

The soil mattered. That's why kindergartens couldn't be built wherever. Worse still, her impact was so significant Steven didn't even know what his gems were going to be. 

What if they were Spinels? 

That thought made the pulsing organ behind her gem stop and skip a beat. There was barely a use for one of her, if there were more… they'd be harvested and recycled or simply abandoned when the novelty wore off. 

After all the effort Steven had gone to, she could still poison the whole batch just by being her. 

"Spinel."

Spinel latched onto her name like a rope thrown before the waterfall plunge.

Steven was leaning one elbow on the railing, the twinkling lights of Homeworld shining up from below. 

"Peridot thinks your heat is late because you're stressed out.

Spinel tensed up. Her pigtails bristled and both her arms crossed tightly over her chest. 

"I…" 

She looked down at herself, noticing how deeply her fingers were digging into her upper arms. Even she could see there was no point in trying to deny it.

"...I'm already messing it up… We haven't even… and I-"

The sob Spinel was fighting valiantly to suppress was squeezed out when a pair of strong arms wrapped her up in a hug. 

"Don't worry, I have a plan to deal with this." 

Spinel blinked. Her welling tears frozen on her bottom lashes. "Yuh do?" 

Steven lifted her into his arms. Spinel didn't have to ask where he was takeing her. There was only one place he refused to let her walk to. 

So, moments after putting her dress on, Spinel shrugged it back off and kicked it across the loft to land with her slippers and gloves. 

Steven took her shoulders and guided her down onto the bed. 

"This isn't your fault, Pumpkin. I'm putting a lot of pressure on you, asking you to deal with all this change at once. Honestly, I could have handled things better. I've been letting my other head do all the thinking." 

Steven cracked a grin that made Spinel wonder if she had missed a joke. She forgot all about it when Steven held her face in his hands and pressed a kiss her forehead. 

"I'm sorry for being so impatient. You know how I get when I want something with all my heart." 

Spinel nodded as Steven stepped back. She looked down at her feet and the ten slender toes she had now. 

Yeah, she knew what it was like when the littlest Diamond had their heart set on something. 

"So, we're going to do things a little differently from now on," Steven explained. 

He tugged his jacket off his shoulders and threw it onto the bed. When he started pulling on the hem of his shirt, Spinel closed her eyes and tried to relax her body. It was the only way she could prepare for whatever Steven had planned next. 

Fabric brushed against her hair and over her head, Spinel forced back her panic until… 

Steven pulled her arms through two holes. When Spinel opened her eyes, she was wearing Steven's shirt. 

She held it out by the hem. The fabric was still warm. Steven laughed and tussled up her hair. 

"Believe it or not, this was Peridot's suggestion. I didn't really listen to the explanation, it's pheromones or something like that. Having my scent around might make you feel safer." 

Spinel's eyebrows creased and she lifted the hem to take an experimental sniff. Usually, she tried not to acknowledge the numerous side effects of her Diamond's humanity. Still, now he was calling her attention to it, Spinel was noticing an earthy aroma that made her feel like she did when she was close to Steven. 

Spinel sat up to find a goofy grin plastered all over Steven's face. 

"You are just too cute for your own good sometimes..." he muttered. He climbed onto the bed, pausing to kiss her gently on the lips.

"I need more pillows and blankets."

A moment after the directionless command was issued, a panel in the floor popped open. It rose to the level of the bed, already piled high with a selection of comforters and fluffy pink puffs. Steven grabbed an armful and Spinel followed along. 

"Are we making a pillow fort?!" Spinel asked, hardly able to contain her excitement. Then she remembered that Steven was an adult now. There was obviously a very serious use for the blankets that she was too simpleminded to understand. 

"Yeah, basically."

Steven started laying the pillows down to create a stable foundation. Spinel sat in shocked silence until she noticed that Steven was using the lighter soft pillows instead of robust cushions. Any seasoned fort-builder knew those should be the backbone of the structure. 

"H-hold on! You're doing it wrong! Let me help!"

Spinel Pounced on him, trying to grab the pillow Steven was holding. He held it high over his head, moving it further out of Spinel's reach each time she made a grab for it. Spinel struggled against him, until she noticed that Steven's eyes weren't on her grasping hand, but on how her bouncing was jostling her chest. 

Spinel grabbed the hem of his shirt and hiked it all the way up, flashing Steven the 'goods' as she'd heard him refer to them. The distraction was all she needed to snatch the pillow from him. 

"Hey! That's cheating!" Steven protested.

Spinel pulled her shirt back down, blew a raspberry in Steven's direction, and set to work fixing the mess he had made of the fort. Steven sighed and held his hands up in defeat. 

"I'll take that as an 'All's fair in love and war'?" Steven mused. 

Spinel rearranged things carefully, lining up the pillows with the solemnity of a stonemason. Halfway through setting the foundation, Spinel realized that Steven was sitting out to watch her. She glanced over her shoulder, feeling slightly guilty for taking over so completely. 

Spinel noticed the colour in his cheeks, reading it as anger for a split second before she saw his lidded eyes. One arm was folded underneath to hold him up, and the other was… down the front of his pants. His belt unfastened, and his fly unzipped, proving it wasn't an accident. 

Steven blushed bright pink, disconcerted that she'd noticed what he was doing, but not enough to stop. Spinel pretended she hadn't seen. She went back to working on her fort. Was this because she had flashed him? Spinel bit her bottom lip. She wished she had a better handle on what exactly lured out this side of her best friend. It wasn't just her body; she had been laying bare on an exam table for almost an hour, and Steven hadn't reacted. But alone in his bedroom, the same spectacle intoxicated him as thoroughly as any of the chemicals on offer back at the earth colony. 

Spinel reached over the fort to grab a blanket from the pile. She heard a soft moan from behind her and Spinel turned to follow Steven's gaze to… 

Steven's shirt covered her like a dress when she was standing up, but it didn't have nearly enough to cover her when she bent over. 

"A-ah!" Spinel tried to pull the hem down, but physics simply wasn't on her side. Spinel sat up and tucked both her hands over her butt, blushing so hard she felt like her cheeks might explode. Steven's breath hitched, becoming noticeably more laboured than before. 

"Spinel-" Steven began. 

"I didn't mean it!" Spinel protested. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't…"

Spinel shut her mouth and swallowed hard, fighting to get a grip. "I wasn't trying to excite you."

Steven licked his lips and nodded. "yeah, that's part of the appeal if I'm honest."

Spinel lessened her grip on the shirt. She kept forgetting that this wasn't a problem anymore. Or at least it was a problem she could fix now. 

"Do do you wanna-"

Another nervous swallow. 'Focus, you useless hunk of carbon. You're totally bungling the sexy broad act you're trying to pull together.' 

Bit by bit Spinel loosened her grip and got back down on her hands and knees. While the rest of her still had no idea what it was doing, her flower parts seemed to be right on top of their responsibilities. A chill passed though her, a reaction to the contrast between the cool air and the wet heat between her legs. 

She flipped through her still incomplete mental dictionary of dirty talk. 

"I could take care of that for you," Spinel offered, wiggling her hips and meeting Steven's eyes over her shoulder. "my..." Spinel hesitated, but it was too late to back out now. "My pussy is as eager to please as I am." 

Steven flinched as if he had been struck across the face. He curled up into a ball and let out a groan of pain. 

"Ahh!" Spinel leapt over and padded at Steven's back, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. "Was that too much? Is this that blue ball thing you told me about? But you said exploding was a metaphor! They don't actually?!" her questions bumped up into one another, morphing into a run-on sentence. 

Steven stuck out his hand and pressed it over Spinel's mouth. 

"Spinel, shut up." Steven pulled in a deep breath and added "Please." 

Steven took his hand back, and Spinel nodded, drawing her fingers over her lips to reinforce the symbolic zippering. 

"I should have mentioned. We… We're going to need to stop doing that for a bit." 

Spinel swallowed, and a stone dropped into the pit of her stomach. "But why? It makes you so happy!" She protested. The voice in her head continued the thought 'it's the only thing I can do that makes you happy.'

A glare shot in her direction reminded Spinel that she was supposed to be shutting. She re-zipped her lip and tossed the key away. Steven gradually uncurled, crossed his legs, and tried to fasten his pants back up. He struggled against his own injector which seemed to be taking Spinel's side by refusing to be tucked away. 

"Fuck… how do I explain this..." Steven managed to fasten the buttons slamming the door on his mutinous midshipman. 

"My injector will do a better job if I save it…" he explained. "but more importantly, this isn't about me. I'm not worried about being able to do my part. My body is doing what it's meant to. You're the one trying to adapt to another species' reproductive cycle." 

He held his arms out. Spinel gratefully threw her whole self into them. He hugged her tightly to his chest. "Let's finish our fort, then we can talk." 

Spinel nodded into his chest. 

* * *

What they ended up building wasn't anything Spinel considered worthy of being called a fort. It had no blankets draped on top, and the bulwark of pillows was not nearly high enough to defend against tossed cushions. She'd let Steven take over as head builder, so this must be what he wanted. 

Steven nudged her toward it, and Spinel climbed over the pillows, curling up inside. Steven patted the top of her head and propped his elbows up on the sides.

"What do you think?"

Spinel pressed her lips together and nodded. Steven frowned and Spinel pointed to her mouth. 

"Shit. Right," Steven realized. He mimicked picking up a key, used it to unlock Spinel's mouth, and pulled the pretend zipper back open. 

"Ahhhhh, thank you! I dunno how much longer I could keep that up," Spinel admitted, once the words had left her mouth she reconsidered. "But I would try my hardest if you wanted it."

She stretched out her legs, finding there was just enough room for it. She wiggled the toes on her right foot then the left.

"It's kinda like a nest."

"Nest is what I was going for." 

"Oho! then you really nailed it! but uh…" Spinel hesitated before using one of the 'W' words, but it wasn't always enough to stop her. "Why?"

Steven shrugged and slid off his bed. He looked around as if he were evaluating the rest of the room. 

"Is there anything else that would make you comfortable?" he asked.

"We could pull the curtains closed."

"Good call."

Steven clapped his hands. The room plunged into a twilight supplied by the bubbles floating overhead. 

"Anything else?" 

Spinel shook her head. 

"If you think of anything, ask the pebbles for it. Eat all your meals in bed. I don't want you leaving for anything besides the bathroom."

Spinel heard the commands buried in the middle of his sentence, but it took a moment for her to dig them up. 

"You... you want me to stay… here?" 

Icey fingers tightened around the beating core behind her gem. Steven must have seen the panic in her face because he kneeled beside the bed and ran his hand down the length of her arm. 

"Spinel, look around, where are you?"

"In… in your room."

"Where in my room?

"On your bed?"

"Yes, and what do I need my bed for?"

"Sleeping?"

"And how often do I do that?"

"Every day." 

Spinel took a deep breath. "Sorry." She pulled her arm away from Steven and crossed them over her belly. Stupid. She was so stupid. 

Steven gently took her wrist and pulled her arm back to him, pressing his lips against the back of her hand. 

"That's why I want you to stay where you're comfortable and safe. The more relaxed you are, the better our chances will be." 

Spinel had so many more questions. What did a chance have to do with it? How long would she need to wait? What was she even waiting for? 

But all of those were things she wasn't meant to think about. They'd only make her more stressed. There was one question out of her dozen that was still safe to ask though. 

"Could you stay with me?"

Steven bit his lip. He had somewhere to be, he always had somewhere. While she had nowhere. Enough nowhere, he had to make a place just to put her. 

"For just a little bit longer..." Spinel pleaded, using the one skill she never doubted, her ability to look pathetic. 

"I suppose we need to see how comfortable it is with us both in there…" Steven agreed. "Just… try to keep the wiggling to a minimum…. Alright?" 

Spinel nodded vigorously and scooted over to give Steven more space. He climbed over the pillows ignoring her scooting and laying right on top of her instead. Spinel squeaked as his weight pressed down on her.

"I'm not crushing you, am I?"

"N-nope. All good!" 

The last thing Spinel wanted on this entire broken planet was for Steven to stop pressing her into the mattress. 

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, supporting her neck with one arm and resting his forehead on the other. Spinel closed her eyes, letting herself get comfortable. At first, she felt like she would just drift off the sleep but…

It started as a tingle in her lower belly, then morphed into something more like an ache but without the pain. She was warm while being pinned under Steven, but her temperature was still rising.

Her thoughts started to wander. Steven on top of her. Only he was naked from the hips down, her legs around his middle and his injector hilt deep inside her. She played out the fantasy, the slow start, his tight grip on her, his laboured breaths filled with both tender barbed words. 

Spinel often planned out ways to make her Diamond happy, but this time felt different. Her focus kept sliding from him to her own form and what was happening to it. The spikes of pleasure, the rough but steady motion stirring her up until she had no choice but to fall. Then she'd lay in a puddle of exhausted satisfaction, holding her breath as her Diamond did what diamonds were meant to. 

Create life. 

Or he would try. Only for her worthless form to regret it because she wasn't ready or wasn't strong enough. 

In her fantasy things went differently. Instead of standing in the shower wondering what she had done wrong, she stayed tangled up with Steven, his hand resting on her tummy. His power settling inside her and starting to grow. 

"Pink Diamond." 

The nasal voice of a Pearl sliced through Spinel's dream, leaving it in shattered fragments on the floor. 

"we're very sorry to intrude but- "

"-your presence is required for-

"-a meeting-"

"-previous engagement-" 

"-please." 

Steven sat up gradually. He caught Spinel's eyes and rolled his at her. Spinel smiled thinly. Blue and Yellow's pearls were so much like their Diamonds it bordered on comedy. 

"I'll try to get them to finish quickly," Steven promised even though they both knew how unlikely it was. 

The last thing that touched was their fingers, Steven's slowly sliding out between Spinel's. She pressed them to her chest, cradling the last vestiges of his warmth as he put on a fresh shirt and left with the two pearls. 

Spinel tried to lay back down, but no matter what way she lay, she couldn't find a comfortable spot. Her whole form felt like it was pulsing, rushes of lightheadedness washed over her, and she couldn't seem to make it all the way to the end of thought without losing track of it. 

"Wh-what's going on?" 

Spinel looked down at herself. She… she needed. 

Steven. 

This was why he was so sure she'd know when it was time. Her from was shining up, aching, burning, radiating with desire.

Spinel had no idea what she should do. Only what she shouldn't. She shouldn't leave this room. She shouldn't wait. What if by the time Steven got back, it went away? But, he'd told her to stay. 

Spinel had no idea how long she managed to last fighting back the churning tide of fog and sparks, but when she clawed her way out of bed and hit the floor. Spinel was long past caring about anything besides the one thing she needed more than anything else in the universe. 

  



End file.
